A battalion commander readies for invasion

Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg is the Israel Defense Forces commander of the 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade. His battalion, held in the Nahal Oz sector, suffered many casualties in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks before stabilizing the front line and eliminating hundreds of the terrorists.

Now his soldiers are preparing for an invitation on the same ground, just beyond the border of the Gaza Strip.

In a special interview with Israel Hayom, Greenberg recounted the haunting memory of that horrific day two weeks ago when his unit arrived.

“We went through six or seven places where they’d detected (terrorists). They showed us where the terrorists were and we took care of them and went on to the next house,” he said. “That evening I was told that they’d detected a house where there were no terrorists. I asked him what was in the house, and he said: two babies whose parents had been killed.

“We reached the place and burst in, and I saw the mother in the living room. She’d been shot. I reached the children’s room and saw their father prostrate with a bullet in the head,” Greenberg said. “I identified the father: he was a former Golani officer; once I’d had the occasion to work with him. And I saw two sweet babies, blue-eyed, maybe two years old, just sitting quietly in their crib. We wrapped them up and took them with us in the Leopard and drove away. Before we left, I went into the bathroom of the house to wash my hands, but what I really wanted was to wipe away the tear that I’d shed.”

Greenberg’s battalion eliminated dozens of terrorists, patched holes in the (Gaza Strip) fence with tanks, and fired at every terrorist who tried to break through or return to Gaza. On the evening of the attack, he called his soldiers together to share the devastating news of their battalion: 41 dead and 91 wounded. In the Yom Kippur War, where the battalion was also on the front, it had sustained 23 dead.

Now the battalion is furiously preparing for the next stage.

“Let’s remember that it’s an attack in enemy territory and not in ours,” he said. “When I don’t have to be the fastest to reach the middle of a settlement, I can do more correct work, smarter work, with more firepower, because I’m not under pressure. The enemy will challenge us but I’m sure victory will be ours.” Here are excerpts from the conversation:

How do you define victory?

“To wipe out as many terrorists as possible and make sure that those in the Gaza periphery will live in peace. Those twins whom we saved — to make sure terrorists won’t enter their home again. Those twins are my motivation.”

Hamas has spent fifteen years preparing for this battle.

“We’ve spent fifteen years preparing for it, too. Now let’s see who’s better prepared. It’s clear to everyone what we’re fighting for and no one has to tell us too much. In Golani, it’s harder to get people to show up for calisthenics than to go to war. They’re more willing to go in and fight than ever. It’s not revenge. It’s the twins; they didn’t even cry when we took them away in the Leopard (tank). I thought about my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter. It’s for them.”

What do you say about the pointed comparison that’s being made with the Yom Kippur War?

In the past few days, my soldiers have been saying that they’re going to be the Yom Kippur II generation. You have to remember that the Yom Kippur generation, after it was taken by surprise, attacked (the enemy’s) interior and defeated them — not in the first offensive but in the second offensive, the counteroffensive. We’ll wind things up that way too.

Israel Hayom is owned by the Adelson family, including Dr. Miriam Adelson, which also owns the Review-Journal.